It is known to record certain physiological values of a patient by means of measurement equipment or sensors which can be worn on the body, and to store these values on a recording medium in recording equipment. Thus, for example, changes in a patient's blood pressure can be measured and recorded over the course of time. The measurement is effected by means of suitable measurement equipment, that is to say automatically without any action on the part of the patient. It is also known to use special measurement equipment to detect and record a patient's hand movements in terms of their amplitude in order in this way to obtain a reliable picture of the pattern of movement over the course of time. Finally, oxygen meters for continuously measuring the oxygen content of a patient's blood in respiratory distress and apnea syndrome are also known. These apparatus fail in cases where it is a matter of recording physiological values which cannot be easily measured physically. In such cases, the doctor has to rely on questioning the patient about his state of health and about the effect of the medication. Since the answers given by the patient are based on memory, experiences are often distorted and wrong assessments and inaccurate data are often given, which are therefore of only limited use, if any, to the doctor.
A pocket computer for recording a patient's data has already been disclosed in DE-A-37 03 404. In this, the patient inputs subjective parameters concerning his state of health into the equipment at certain times which are set by a program, and the equipment stores the data with the clock time and the date. Using control buttons, the patient can set the cursor on a scale in such a way that the degree of his subjective symptoms is marked and then stored. This equipment and the data recorded with it have no reference whatsoever to the time at which the medication was taken by the patient.
A battery-operated miniaturized computer for collecting outpatient data has been disclosed in DE-A-40 25 830, in which the patient, after a complicated cycle of questions, assesses his state of health subjectively and inputs this assessment by means of buttons into the equipment and stores it. This data interrogation and input also has only an indirect reference to the time at which medication is taken. In addition, the input values are without reference to the previous value, i.e. "absolute". The patient cannot see the value he last entered, and must therefore carry out an absolute new assessment at the time in question. There is therefore no coherent and meaningful picture of the changes in the state of health over the course of time.
WO 94/06088 disclosed a process which, by means of a portable computer, gives the patient advice on when and how to take medication. The patient himself inputs various data, which he is asked for by the computer, into the equipment and this data is processed and used to give instructions on the administration of medication in terms of dose and time, and in addition to this an expert system is consulted which finally issues the recommendation binding on the patient. To this extent, this process represents a "closed loop" between patient and computer, in which the computer obviously assumes the role of the doctor. Such a process, and the equipment necessary for carrying out this process, are very elaborate and complicated and are therefore not always suitable for patients whose faculty of perception and mobility are impaired. In addition, the recommendations given by such a "computer doctor" must of course be qualified since such equipment cannot take the place of the actual doctor.